Biological Clock
by distantmuse
Summary: How Fig and Caputo decided that they wanted to make a baby (my take on some missing scenes from season 7 - spoilers for season 7, obviously)
1. Chapter 1

_(A/N: This plays off the scene in season 7, episode 6 when Fig asks if hormone shots were what Caputo pictured when they started talking baby making, and he said she wasn't "not bent over the kitchen island, ass up." I took it and ran with it to write that missing scene.)_

* * *

_Fucking marble._

Natalie had just had to insist on a marble counter top for the kitchen island, and she regretted it with each slam of her sharp, unpadded hips into the stone. It would make more sense simply to move their sexual encounter to a more comfortable location, but she was too close. _So close._

She moaned loudly as one of Joe's hands reached down to circle her most sensitive point. Joe moved his hand with purpose, clearly beyond the point of teasing her and ready to give her release so he could have his own.

A final, deep thrust and aggressive brush of Joe's thumb against her brought her to a mind-swirling climax, with Joe quickly following as he grunted a series of expletives. When his movement stopped, Natalie leaned her forehead against the cool marble while she caught her breath. The leftovers from the chicken caprese they had for dinner were mere inches from her head. Joe gave her a playful tap on the ass before readjusting her panties and skirt for her.

"Why is it always better standing up?" Natalie wondered aloud.

"More leverage." Joe answered, busying himself with replacing his own clothes before flopping down onto the couch, completely spent.

She rubbed one hand gingerly over her hip bones, knowing that she would be feeling their romp later and for days to come. A mental note was made to dig out some Advil, but at that point on shaky legs, she didn't think she could make it up the stairs.

"So, I have a question." Natalie asked, collapsing down onto the couch beside of him.

"Mm?"

"Have you realized that we have not been using protection pretty much since we moved into this place together?"

"Is that a problem? You don't think I'm clean?" Joe half laughed.

"I'd hesitate to say so for certain because you were involved with one of the most terrifyingly devious, horrible people I've ever met." Natalie pointed out.

"Wow, I've heard of girlfriends hating each other, but this is a new level."

Natalie rolled her eyes. "You know it's more personal than sharing the beer can. I'm just saying you could have gotten some evil bitch STD from her."

"You'd probably have at least some immunity to that, right?" Joe ducked as Natalie whacked the side of his head with a pillow.

"That's not even what I'm fucking talking about, anyway. Aren't you afraid that you'll knock me up?"

Joe shrugged. "Not really. The chances of that are pretty low at our age."

"Low, but not impossible." Natalie shook her head in disgust. How were men always so _stupid_ about reproduction? "Jesus, Joe, did you even_ take_ sex ed in high school?"

"I went to Catholic school. And I was really more about the practicum, anyway." Joe smirked.

"Beer deliveries all over town?" Natalie quipped.

"Hardly, but some thirsts were satisfied."

"Gross. Back on subject."

"Would it really be the worst thing?" Joe asked quietly after a long moment.

As he toyed with one of her curled strands of hair, Natalie examined his face. His kind eyes that had once irritated the shit out of her had become endearing over the months they had spent together. She still couldn't plot the exact evolution of their relationship from loathing to lust, from tolerance to friendship, from companionship finally to love.

There was something about the man and the way that he knew her, accepted her, and still loved her for who she was even when she had found it difficult to do so herself. His sensitivity had balanced well with her assertive nature, finally helping them to bring out the best in each other when they'd previous brought out the worst.

"You had _wanted_ to be a mother." Joe reminded her when she didn't answer – as though she needed the reminder.

A deep breath filled Natalie's lungs as she averted her eyes from her boyfriend. She had. She still did. There was an emptiness that she carried inside of her because she had never had the chance to become a mother.

Despite the hard shell she protected herself against the world with, there was a maternal part of her that wanted to lavish a child with pure, enduring, and unconditional love. To spend her afternoons cheering at soccer games or at ballet class, watching a daughter twirl in a puff of cotton candy pink tulle. To check for monsters under the bed at night, kiss chubby cheeks, and tuck the covers around a sleepy body.

(She knew the ideas she had of motherhood were romanticized, but that's how dreams work. No one dreams of mastitis, the stomach flu, and middle school.)

"I did." Natalie cleared her throat, trying to keep emotion out of her voice. "But I have accepted that it's probably not meant for me."

"Why not? Why couldn't it be?"

There were times when he could read her like a book, but more often, it was a struggle. He always teased her, blaming it on the injectable, manufactured poison that she had pumped into her face religiously every three months, but the truth was that she complicated – and he was clueless about what she was thinking or what she wanted most of the time.

This was one of those times.

When she still didn't answer, Joe kept talking, as he usually did. "I'm just saying that at our age, the time in our lives for that is running out quickly. Biological clocks are ticking. If it's something we want, then it's something we need to be… Working on."

"What you actually mean is that _my_ time is running out and _my_ biological clock is about to expire because _you _could run around pretending you're Zeus and impregnate all of Greece until the end of time." Natalie corrected him.

_(Of course_ men could reproduce until they died and women couldn't, Natalie thought. Man was created in God's image – and God was obviously sexist. Or Zeus was. Whomever.)

Joe paused. She always came up with the most creative sarcastic retorts, and sometimes they caught him off guard. "That'd be one really long and fucking expensive flight, especially when the only person I'd be interested in making a baby with is right here beside of me."

Sometimes, Natalie wished she'd met Joe's mother before she'd died so she could know the single mom who had raised him to be such a hopeless romantic. One who'd serenaded her in a dive bar, who would surprise her with flowers after work on a random Tuesday for absolutely no reason, who left little notes on her steering wheel and brought her coffee to her in bed.

One who was telling her he wanted to have a baby with her – That he wanted to fulfill one of her greatest dreams with her. That he loved her enough that he wanted to make a little replica of her.

(Okay, one that was half his, but she would definitely shine through more strongly as the dominant one in the relationship.)

"We are not the most… Normal… Couple in the world. Should we really bring a child into our mess like it's some sort of dysfunctional sitcom?"

"There's a lot of love between us, though, Nati." Joe said, running his fingers up and down her arm gently. "Admit it."

"Never." Natalie shot back, but there was just a hint of a smile on her lips.

"What do you think? Honestly?"

"Like I've ever been anything _but _honest with you?"

"Stop evading the question."

Natalie knew that she would never feel complete without a chance at motherhood after she had wanted it for so long. Closing her eyes to keep him from seeing her vulnerability, she inhaled slowly. "I think… I want to have a baby."

"Really?" Joe's face broke into the goofy grin that reminded her of a cartoon dog.

"I don't even know if it's possible though. It may already be too late."

"You never know. God gives babies to idiots and terrible people all the time."

Natalie frowned. "Not sure which of those two categories I'd rather be part of."

Joe raked a head over his head, internally swearing at the foot he'd inserted in his mouth. "That's not what I meant. I was trying to say that they're not exclusive to good people and maybe not even young people, and he might even give one to older…"

"I think it's best if you just stop talking." Natalie said, holding up a hand. "If you shut the fuck up, actually."

"Sorry." Joe mumbled. In his excitement, his mind was racing, but his mouth was faster.

Natalie's brain was moving quickly, too. "But I mean, how far are we willing to go for this? Are we committed enough to do fertility treatments or IVF? Where the hell do we go from here?"

"Why don't we just see what happens without protection and go from there?" Joe said, leaning over to kiss her neck.

Natalie lolled her head to the side to give him better access. "Mm. That's kind of what we're already doing."

"Then let's do it some more and figure out the rest later." Joe let his hand ease up the inside of Natalie's thigh. "I'm no math whiz, but every time increases the odds, hm?"

Natalie arched a perfectly groomed brow as his hand got higher. "You're ready to go again _already_? I'm impressed."

"Well, I've spent my entire life trying _not _to knock women up, so the idea of actually trying to get you pregnant is getting me a bit worked up." Joe worked his other hand up under her skirt, parting her thighs. "It's pretty hot."

Natalie could feel her heart pounding hard in her chest. She agreed – it was hot. "You sure you can handle it, old man?"

"Mm. I'll show you old." Joe growled as he unzipped his pants and settled himself between her legs.

They may have been racing against Natalie's biological clock, but their renewed sexual energy would certainly make the ride more fun.

(Literally.)


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: I'm going to make this a 4-shot series. It will also work nicely as a prequel to my other story, Baby, That's All We Need. See how I did that? ;)_

* * *

Natalie Figueroa had never failed a test.

Not that she was a perfect, straight-A student, but she'd always managed at least the B honor roll. Math was difficult for her; numbers were too concrete. It frustrated her that numbers couldn't be twisted, massaged, manipulated, and deflected the way that words could.

(Perhaps that was one of the reasons that she had been caught embezzling.)

Failure wasn't an option. Her parents made that loud and clear (when they could manage to be home from the country club or gala of the night).

The first time she'd taken a pregnancy test, Joe had been there in the bathroom with her, counting down the minutes. He was practically bubbling with excitement. She was, too, but she didn't let it show outwardly the way that Joe did.

When the stick came up with one pink line, with zero sign of a second appearing, she could practically feel Joe deflate next to her.

"It'll happen next time." Joe assured her, pressing his lips to her temple.

The second time, he'd waited outside their master bathroom for her, sitting on the edge of the bed in suspense. When she'd walked out of the bathroom, giving him only a slight shake of her head, he'd frowned and folded her into his arms.

"It'll happen." Joe said again, like a mantra that would somehow magically make everything okay.

After that, she'd taken them at work or when he was out of the house so that she could process her own feelings and tears before sharing the bad news with him. She couldn't stand seeing the disappointment in his eyes again, though he tried to hide it. The series of failed tests in the form of expensive sticks of plastic took its toll on Natalie's emotions. Her body was failing not only her, but Joe, too. Nothing could have prepared her for the emptiness that she felt after each negative test.

She was angry at everyone – at herself for putting her career ahead of motherhood, at her 10th grade health teacher for never mentioning how hard it could be for women in their 40s to get pregnant, at all of the teenaged girls in the world who seemed to get pregnant just by_ looking _at a dick, at Walgreen's for selling those plastic sticks of dejection for twelve dollars each.

Given her age, her OB/GYN recommended the more aggressive approach of moving straight to IVF. The estimate (or "financial investment," as the doctor had called it) they were given was staggering.

But they had the money, thanks to Natalie's divorce settlement, and she desperately wanted to feel a baby growing inside of her, kicking, rolling, and hiccupping its way around her womb. She wanted to curse Joe's existence as the baby was born, then cradle it in her arms and_ finally_ have a _real _family.

She wanted to be a _mother._

In the passenger's seat of Joe's car, Natalie turned the small glass bottle of hormones over in her hand, examining the clear fluid inside. It would stimulate her ovaries to produce more eggs, which could then be harvested and fertilized with Joe's sperm to create embryos, which would then be incubated and grown before being transplanted into her uterus. It was all described in the spiral-bound informational book that sat in her lap under the drugs and box of syringes. With a sigh, Natalie shoved the vial back into the pharmacy bag.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Natalie replied, unconvincingly.

Joe gave her a side glance. "You're not afraid of the needles, are you? Because you take needles to the face on the regular."

"From a_ doctor_ who went to school for like _20 years_ to learn how to do it, not from _you_ who learned how in about _two minutes_." Natalie scoffed.

"Is that it?"

Natalie sighed. "No, I'm not afraid of the needles… Though there are other ways I'd rather take it in the ass."

"Well, we could do that, but it's definitely not going to help you get pregnant." Joe smirked.

Natalie rolled her eyes in response. "I just didn't expect this to be so fucking hard. It's not _supposed _to be this hard. Even after everything we do, all the money we spend, all the hormones we shoot in my ass… It still may not work."

"I just wish I could fix this for you." Joe said quietly, resting one hand on her knee.

_Of course_ he did. Men loved to fix things; though in this case, Natalie wished that he actually could.

"What if it doesn't work?" Natalie asked softly.

Joe sighed. "The hormones are still in the bottle. Don't already doom this to failure."

"Everything else has been a failure so far, so why shouldn't I?" Natalie shot back.

"Come on, Nat."

"What if I'm taking away your chance to be a father?" Natalie felt a lump rise in her throat.

"Nati…"

"Seriously." The tears Natalie had been holding back from him for weeks finally spilled openly over her cheeks. "You could be with a younger woman and have a family, and you wouldn't have to go through all of this bullshit to do it."

Joe was silent for a moment as he stopped the car in front of their house. After setting the parking brake, he turned to Natalie, taking both of her hands in his. His kind eyes looked into her watery ones, and he felt a pang in his chest at how miserable she looked.

"I've gone 46 years without being a father. I've also gone most of my adult life without someone to share it with, and you have given me that." Joe released one of her hands to reach forward and brush a stream of tears away from her face. "I would love to have a child with _you_, and _you _only, to share that life with us, but if it's not in the cards for us… It'll be okay. I'll still be the happiest man in the world as long as I still have you."

The genuine sentiment behind his words only made Natalie sob harder, and Joe unbuckled his seatbelt so he could lean over to embrace her. She buried her face in his shoulder, not caring that her tears were soaking his shirt. He murmured comforting words into her ear, stroking her hair gently until her crying finally slowed down to the occasional gasp and sniffle.

"Do you still want to do this, babe?" Joe asked quietly. "If you don't, it's okay. I'm going to love you no matter what."

With a deep breath, Natalie tried to pull herself together, wiping the remaining tears from her eyes. "Yes. I want to do this."


	3. Chapter 3

"You're home late, babe."

"I've had a hell of a day. I broke the law tonight." Natalie announced, throwing her purse onto a chair in the living room.

"Again? It's a good thing you look good in orange." Joe joked from the kitchen island where he was working on his laptop. "Where's the body that we have to hide?"

Natalie didn't respond, instead sinking down into the couch, her eyes fixed on the wall in front of her. Joe looked away from his computer at her and noticed how her shoulders slumped in exhaustion and that her skin had a slight ashen tone to it.

"Okay, I was kidding, but now you're scaring me, Nat." Joe got up and started toward the living room, stopping at the fridge for a bottle of water that he handed to Natalie as he sat down next to her. "You're not okay. Do you want to talk about it?"

"I broke several laws tonight." Natalie ticked off the list on her fingers. "I committed medical fraud, health insurance fraud, prescription fraud, obtained an illegal abortion, probably some others that I don't even know about…"

"Wait, what?" Joe's heart sank. "An abortion?"

Natalie sighed and opened her bottle of water, taking a drink that felt eternal to Joe before she continued. "I got the abortion pill for a detainee who was raped coming into this country."

Joe let out a slow breath of relief, silently thanking God that_ she_ hadn't somehow gotten pregnant and aborted _his_ child. "How did you do that?"

"I lied to the doctor and said it was for me, but she knew what I was doing. She's been controlling my cycles and taking pictures of my uterus and ovaries for months. She knew I couldn't be nine weeks pregnant."

"Right, that makes sense."

"She tried to induce a miscarriage with some voodoo potion of kitchen herbs or something, but it didn't work." Natalie's tone turned angry. "She shouldn't have to give birth to her rapist's child. How fucked is it that the U.S. government cares about the fetus and not her? And they won't give a shit about the baby either once its born."

"You're completely right." Joe agreed.

"I just couldn't let that happen to her when I'm a privileged white woman who has access to the right to choose… So I helped her."

"You did the right thing, Nat."

"I just hope I don't end up in jail for it. I'm not sure I can handle that level of karma."

Natalie laid her head in Joe's lap. They sat in silence for several minutes with Joe stroking Natalie's hair lightly before she finally spoke again.

"I can't get pregnant." Natalie whispered.

Joe knew that all of the hormone injections and negative pregnancy tests were taking their toll on Natalie. When she thought he couldn't hear her, she cried in the shower; but he could hear her, and it killed him that he couldn't just get her pregnant and give her what she wanted naturally.

"I know it seems that way, Natalie, and I know we've been trying for a while, but maybe if we just give it some more time…"

"That's not what I mean." Natalie rubbed her face with one hand. Joe saw tears shining in her eyes. "I can't intentionally make and bring a new child into this world when there are so many children in shit situations. I saw babies in court today. Actual _babies_."

Joe let out a soft sigh and gently brushed a hand across her cheek. "So, what are you saying?"

"I still want to be a mother, but… Can you love a child that doesn't biologically come from either one of us?" Natalie looked up, her dark, tear-filled eyes fixing on his face.

"Some people would probably consider that a plus, if we didn't actually procreate together." Joe joked, trying to lighten the mood.

"I'm serious. Could you love an adopted child? Not a baby… Maybe a little older."

Joe thought back to more than two decades before, when he had accepted the role of father in Lisa's daughter's life. He'd shared only bits and pieces of that history with Natalie because the sting of the loss still pained him. Even though the baby wasn't his, even though she belonged to his _best friend, _he couldn't have loved Riley more if she'd been his own. He'd worked his ass off every day to provide and create a life for them, until Lisa had made it disappear on a moment's notice, like nothing had ever happened.

He knew Natalie would never do that to him. There were perks to the idea. He wouldn't have to deal with an (even more) hormonal and pregnant Natalie. With her age, even if she was able to conceive, there were some concerns about her being able to carry and give birth to a healthy baby. They could skip the sleepless newborn stage that he remembered all to well with Riley entirely.

"Absolutely, babe." Joe bent and pressed his lips to her forehead. "When you're ready… Let's do it."


End file.
